First Corona Virus Case Confirmed in Dominican Republic

[Jim_Iain]

I know this may not be specific to Celebrity but I know many cruises are scheduled into DR.    Our March 28 Equinox cruise substituted Samana DR for Tortola a while back so will keep an eye on developments.

 

https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus/dominican-republic-reports-first-case-of-coronavirus/

Edited March 1, 2020 by Jim_Iain

[drakes2]

5 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I know this may not be specific to Celebrity but I know many cruises are scheduled into DR.    Our March 28 Equinox cruise substituted Samana DR for Tortola a while back so will keep an eye on developments.

 

https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus/dominican-republic-reports-first-case-of-coronavirus/

They are not allowing any flights from Milan to the DR for the next month. Hopefully it will help. I have a cruise coming up March break and another in May out of Rome.

[Jim_Iain]

I'm keeping an open mind -   We are booked on the 3/15, 3/21 and 3/28 cruises --- -only the last one has a stop in DR -  To be honest I love sea days and wouldn't mind a cancellation of the port.

[TroubleT]

30 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm keeping an open mind -   We are booked on the 3/15, 3/21 and 3/28 cruises --- -only the last one has a stop in DR -  To be honest I love sea days and wouldn't mind a cancellation of the port.

We are also on 3/21 and 3/38 cruises. The first one has 2 stops in Mexico and Mexico has 2 (???) confirmed cases. I really hope Celebrity will do something about it: like giving us an option to cancel or rebook.

[hcat]

We havea DR stop on a  way future cruise. It's a Carnival pier facility that does not look that great..We think it was built for an ed or training use???...

 

We do not plan to go off the ship there.  But once others go into a port...they can bring back germs,

[Jim_Iain]

7 minutes ago, TroubleT said:

We are also on 3/21 and 3/38 cruises. The first one has 2 stops in Mexico and Mexico has 2 (???) confirmed cases. I really hope Celebrity will do something about it: like giving us an option to cancel or rebook.

 

Personally, I'm all go.    I will follow the same protocols I do for Flu and Noro.    They have had 4 cases in the middle of silicon valley (where I live)  and also not changing my routine.

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 minutes ago, hcat said:

We havea DR stop on a  way future cruise. It's a Carnival pier facility that does not look that great..We think it was built for an ed or training use???...

 

We do not plan to go off the ship there.  But once others go into a port...they can bring back germs,

 

Is that Samana, DR?   That is where we have shifted or port to due to congestion in Tortola.  

[waterbug123]

How many cases of flu in the DR?

[MEcruzr]

1 hour ago, waterbug123 said:

How many cases of flu in the DR?

 

Who knows. Totally different "bug". One covid-19 case. 

 

Also, according to the John Hopkins site there are 3 confirmed cases of covid-19 on St. Barthelemy. 

 

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Edited March 4, 2020 by MEcruzr

[hcat]

On 3/1/2020 at 6:39 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Is that Samana, DR?   That is where we have shifted or port to due to congestion in Tortola.  

Our port  listing is Puerta Plata , DR .

Time is 11 30 am to 7 pm. Pier area is called Amber Cove.  Did not find much that interested us there in port  review info.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147290-d10234506-Reviews-Amber_Cove-Puerto_Plata_Puerto_Plata_Province_Dominican_Republic.html

 

  Would have much preferred Samana..  this cruise  is not til Jan 2021, so maybe it will change.  

 

So much can change even in a week or two these days!

Edited March 4, 2020 by hcat

[Pickels]

On ‎3‎/‎1‎/‎2020 at 5:54 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I'm keeping an open mind -   We are booked on the 3/15, 3/21 and 3/28 cruises --- -only the last one has a stop in DR -  To be honest I love sea days and wouldn't mind a cancellation of the port.

Jim, are you on the Equinox or the Silhouette on 3/15?

[snowowl]

I am on the Equinox now. Today we are in Samana. Ship arrived at 8 am. But the ship is still waiting to be cleared by authorities as of now (almost 11 am). 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Pickels said:

Jim, are you on the Equinox or the Silhouette on 3/15?

We are on Equinox.   Suite cases came out last night and need to make a trip to the Laundry sometime this week.

 

I was just reading @snowowl on a separate thread that the ship took hours to be cleared by Samana authorities.   Hopefully things will be smoother for our arrival as it is about a month away.

Edited March 4, 2020 by Jim_Iain

[Pickels]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

We are on Equinox.   Suite cases came out last night and need to make a trip to the Laundry sometime this week.

 

I was just reading @snowowl on a separate thread that the ship took hours to be cleared by Samana authorities.   Hopefully things will be smoother for our arrival as it is about a month away.

Jim,

Now I'm really confused, [that's easy at my age], you said you're on the Equinox 3/15 (Sun), our reservation says we're on the Equinox 3/14 (Sat) ???  This is March 2020?

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Pickels said:

Jim,

Now I'm really confused, [that's easy at my age], you said you're on the Equinox 3/15 (Sun), our reservation says we're on the Equinox 3/14 (Sat) ???  This is March 2020?

No...error is on my part... it is the 14th...   We are flying out on 3/13 (a week from Friday).   Can't wait.

[waterbug123]

23 hours ago, MEcruzr said:

 

Who knows. Totally different "bug". One covid-19 case. 

 

 

Yes, I'm aware they are two different bugs.  I'm just humored by the fact that so many are in a panic over covid19 but totally unconcerned about flu, which kills tens of thousands every year.  The media have outdone themselves with hype over this one.

[MEcruzr]

Just checked the John Hopkins site and there are now two confirmed cases in the DR. I'm watching the Caribbean to see how this thing is progressing (or not) there.

[md2va2003]

We were on the Equinox 2/29 cruise.  Arrived  Samana at 8:00 AM.  Waited over 5 hours for DR port authority to clear us to come ashore.  It never happened and the captain headed for Nassau - our next stop.  Celebrity was very generous and gave everyone a ship board credit equal to one day's value of our cruise.  The onboard shops were busy that evening!  Way to go Celebrity!